Reviewed by Sanguine

I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a hand-saw.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 2, scene 2, lines 378-379.

Unlike Hamlet, Tara and the other victims of Glory's brain-suck are not feigning madness. Yet, in Steven DeKnight's "Spiral" my suspicion from a few weeks ago was confirmed: some madness is divinest sense. The ramblings of Tara and her mad brethren (she seems to be the only woman afflicted) do seem to be filled with clues, although at this point these clues that can't fully be understood. Sunnydale's hospital for the brain-suckedly insane seems to be filled with highly excitable patients who mysteriously synchronise their ramblings with Tara, suggesting that their rants are controlled by Glory or perhaps even reveal the inner workings of the hellgoddess's mind. In particular, the madmen and Tara are obsessed with the notion of Time. Indeed, I'm becoming obsessed with Time myself. How will the fine writing staff at Mutant Enemy have the Time to wrap up all the plot threads? Pacing has been a problem with Buffy this season, and the last two episodes (which have felt rushed and overly plot heavy) have certainly demonstrated the dangers of trying to do too many things with 22 episodes.

This season has dealt with three main topics: family, the thin and sometimes permeable line between good and evil, and the hellgoddess Glory. I would agree with others who have said that the first and second storylines were far more satisfying than the latter one, which suffered from bad acting and sometimes mediocre writing. The only redeeming thing about the latter storyline was the introduction of Glory's hilarious minions, although the female minion from this week wasn't convincingly obsequious.

The storyline about family often overlapped with difficult moral questions about the nature of good and evil and was consistently fascinating--with the exception of the lackluster and somewhat elitist episode "Family." Who is Dawn? Where does she fit? What is her identity? Why does everyone think she is Buffy's sister? How can the Scoobies incorporate her into their fold, knowing that she is a key that may destroy the world? Storylines that dealt with moral ambiguity, as many of you are aware, were of great interest to me. Indeed, it is this element of Buffy (the permeability between good and evil) that has intrigued me since Angel suffered post-coital soul loss in Season 2. It continued to fascinate me during the Faith storyline in Season 3 and her brief return in Season 4. Season 5 has offered a smorgasbord of difficult moral choices for Buffy and the Gang, one of which I alluded to above. How will they resolve the key situation? Of course they can't kill Dawn--Michelle Trachtenburg is signed on to be a regular next year and I would hate to see her go. The underlying moral/philosophical conundrum is a fascinating one that has been debated for centuries: should one sacrifice one life in order to save the lives of many? According to socialist dogma, the individual's needs should be subservient to the needs of the state. According to Renaissance humanism, the individual should be celebrated. According to Anya's favourite philosopher, the objectivist Ayn Rand, giving the individual complete freedom from any kind of regulation allows the [capitalist] society to flourish. Finally, according to Christian theology, Christ sacrificed himself for the greater good; He died in order to save the souls of believers. Given all the crucifixion allusions that have been scattered throughout Buffy of late (starting with Spike's crucifixion pose in Giles's dream in Restless, continuing with Spike's wounded hands, Giles's wounded side--by a spear no less!) the writers seem to be foreshadowing a major sacrifice. Someone will die for the good of the world. But who will it be? That's the big cliffhanger for this season, and I suspect all the spoilage that is being disseminated by Wanda is complete rot--Mutant Enemy propaganda to throw us off the scent.

Another big moral conundrum was posed by Spike, the vampire who seems to have the genuine ability to love, not only Buffy but also Dawn. The major problem for the writers after Season 4 was how they could keep the talented and popular actor James Marsters around when he was not integrated into the Scooby Gang and was not fighting consistently (or even frequently) on the side of good. At the end of Season 4 Spike did some pretty bad things, selling the Scoobies out to Adam. Even as recently as "Out of My Mind" of Season 5 he was still up to his bad old ways. But "Out of My Mind" was a pivot point. Spike realises that he has feelings for Buffy. While his epiphany provided some funnily awkward moments between him and Buffy in episodes like "No Place Like Home" (the classic "Out.For.A.Walk.Bitch"), and some horrible moments in episodes like "Crush," he didn't conclusively demonstrate his Scoobiness until he withstood Glory's torture in "Intervention." Spike is still not a White Hat, nor should he be. I like Grey Spike: a Spike who can be trusted where Buffy and Dawn and perhaps even the Scoobies are concerned, but who is constantly struggling against following that "evil star" of his. That's a provocative moral struggle with major repercussions for the established mythology of the show. I look forward to seeing how Spike's moral progress will play out next season.

Now to specific elements of DeKnight's episode: like "Tough Love" last week, the writer was simply trying to cram too much plot into too little episode. This episode felt rushed and devoid of emotion; a quality that the director attempted to rectify by the copious inclusion of wordless reaction shots. I've never seen a Buffy episode with so many reaction shots. I guess the director was trying to convey emotion without taking up too much screen time. But main point of this episode was plot advancement through action not emotion. And action there certainly was!

A supremely dorky source of action were the doggedly determined Knights Who Say Key, the Knights of Byzantium. Relatives of those medieval crusaders who pillaged the Holy Lands in their quest to drive out the "Infidels," the Knights of Byzantium definitely represent the worst kind of religious fanatic. They see only black and white. The key must be destroyed to save the world. From the Knight's perspective, if Glory (the Beast) procures this key, then the portal to all the dimensions will be opened. Chaos will reign. Theirs is a holy mission, and for the first time (at least that I remember) we see Christian symbols besides crosses on Buffy. My Catholic husband identified the rosary-like beads in the clerics' hands as they tried to break Willow's spell. While one could critique and deconstruct the Knights' (and the writer's) use of symbols from a specific Christian denomination, I will now leave this potentially painful and controversial topic.

As Spike said, the Knights seemed to be refugees from a Renaissance Faire . . . card- carrying members of the Society for Creative Anachronism. I found it difficult to take these Knights seriously with their cute chain mail, strange tattoos, and surprisingly speedy horses. Obviously the Buffy writers know their Monty Python. I kept expecting one of the Knights to break out the coconuts (keeps the budget down, don't you know). And when Anya brought out the Spam, I found the Monty Python Spam Song going through my head. I did appreciate the literary names given to the Knights. The African-American knight was named Dante, perhaps after the author of The Inferno, the famous book about the levels of hell. The brain-sucked knight was appropriately named Orlando, probably after the famous mad protagonist of Ariosto's Renaissance romance Orlando furioso. The literature geek in me appreciated these small touches, but that was the only thing I really liked about these campy knights (no pun about the RV intended). Besides, they were too difficult to kill. Buffy can dispatch a super-strong vampire with no problem. Why were these human knights not immediately vanquished by her über-powerful blows? It made no sense, but it made for a thrilling and expensive fight scene on top of the RV. In spite of the fact that he can't effectively fight humans, Spike began to demonstrate his usefulness and sincerity to Xander when he grasped the knight's sword with his bare hands, allowing Buffy to do battle. This facilitated the fine male- bonding moment later in the episode when Xander helped Spike light his cigarette. I don't know why Xander took Spike's lighter though, unless he's trying to get the vamp to quit smoking or is planning on taking it up himself.

Ten human Knights lay dead and Giles and Spike were injured as a result of the battle. It is war and Buffy doesn't have time for self-recriminations. She had to kill those men. It was a necessity for her survival and the survival of her sister. I'm sure the Knights feel the same way about their quest: the death of a little girl would be an unfortunate but necessary consequence of the destruction of the key. As Glory said earlier in the season, the perception of evil sometimes depends on your point of view.

This episode raised as many questions as it answered. Why did Buffy have to carry Dawn? Why was Dawn so tired at the beginning of the episode? Did being in Glory's presence deplete her energy? Will Dawn be expelled from school and will Buffy lose custody of her sister because of their little road trip out of town? How did Buffy and Spike get the RV? Why do Willow's eyes turn dark when she performs magic? Will Ben kill Dawn to save himself? Why are we hearing so much about Buffy following her heart? We heard it from the First Slayer in "Intervention" and we heard it from Giles again this week. Incidentally, Giles must have been delirious when he made that speech. He certainly didn't appreciate Buffy following her heart in the past (i.e., when Buffy started playing kissy-face again with the resouled Angel in Season 3). Perhaps Giles has had a change of heart . . . Buffy might have felt that she was emotionally unavailable after the death of her mother, but of all the Scoobies Giles is the one who is most emotionally guarded. Anyway, perhaps next week's episode will help Buffy find her "heart" again, both metaphorically and literally (finding Dawn).

This episode did have its pleasurable moments. Seeing Spike in those hideous goggles made me shriek with laughter. Would Evil Spike have ever been caught in that kind of eyewear? I think not! The Scooby road trip was fun until the Knights showed up. It was nice to see Buffy take charge and Spike reluctantly be accepted as a member of the Gang. Anya was hilarious with her Spam and frying pan. I liked Tara better insane. She's way more interesting now. Indeed, sometimes madness does make divinest sense, especially when it reveals that Amber Benson can, in fact, really act.